TNZ Apparels workers receive one month’s due salary amid protests
The workers were paid the salary for September yesterday, and the authorities have agreed to pay October salaries by 30 November
At least 3,620 workers and 120 staff members from five factories of TNZ Apparels Limited in Gazipur have received their outstanding one-month salaries three days ahead of schedule.
The payments were transferred to workers' bKash accounts on Thursday evening.
"The salary was due by Sunday, but we received it on Thursday evening. Our owners kept their word, and we are all happy," said Alamgir, a factory worker.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
TNZ Apparels Limited Chairman Hedayatul Haque said the factories will reopen on Saturday, hoping that the workers will return to work and help offset the owners' losses through production.
TNZ Apparels operates five factories in the Mogarkhal area of Gazipur, with 2,800 workers in TNZ Apparels, 420 in Basic Clothing Limited, 400 in Apparel Art Limited, 40 in Expo Cartoon, and 80 in MNS Yarn Dyeing.
Workers in the first three factories were owed salaries for September and October, while staff in the remaining two factories were owed salaries and service benefits.
Protests erupted on 9 November at 9:30am when about 2,000 workers from TNZ Apparels blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway in Gazipur, demanding the payment of their outstanding wages. This caused severe traffic disruptions on both the Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways, affecting goods transportation and causing significant public suffering.
The protests lasted for three days, after which Labour Ministry Secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman announced government intervention to pay the workers.
An agreement was reached between the government and employers during a tripartite meeting at the Labour Ministry, attended by 31 labour representatives, BGMEA leaders, and ministry officials.
The agreement stipulated that the workers' September salaries would be paid by 17 November and October salaries by 30 November. It was also decided that the TNZ Apparels factories would reopen immediately.
A condition was added that if any road blockades occurred before 30 November, the payment would be withheld. Following the agreement, the workers called off the blockade, and traffic resumed after 10pm on 11 November.
"The workers received the payment without having to work, and they will also receive future installments in the same manner," said Hedayatul Haque.
Haque explained the financial challenges the company faced, including delays in export payments and the inability to secure a loan to cover the salaries.
He added, "We applied for a Tk8 crore loan to pay salaries, but the bank did not provide it. We also tried to withdraw money from our export fund, but that wasn't possible either."
Despite these challenges, Haque expressed gratitude to officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment and local authorities, including Secretary Shafiquzzaman, Additional Secretary Sabur Hossain, BGMEA Additional Secretary Rafiqul Islam, and Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Nafisa Arefin, for their cooperation in resolving the issue.
